


Welcome to Greendale

by Write2Draw



Category: Community (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-03
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-02-19 18:00:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2397620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Write2Draw/pseuds/Write2Draw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Klaus digs Elena. Elena sucks at Spanish. Klaus is now an expert at Spanish. An expert who is now tutoring a room full of Misfits at Greendale Community College.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Greendale

**Author's Note:**

> Guys! This is my first attempt at fic so, please keep that in mind lol. Never fear. This story ends in Klaroline.

     The microphone’s feedback emanates from the center of the quad drawing a small crowd to the podium. Dean Pelton clears his throat, “Good morning, Greendale. A lot of you have heard that community college is a place for drop outs, athletes that lost their scholarship, old people trying to further their education, single mothers with something to prove, and losers.” He flips to the next notecard, “However, I wish you well.” Everybody looks at each other confused.

     Dean Pelton holds up his hands, “Okay, you know what? I’m missing a card. There’s more to this speech. Can you look around your person for a notecard?” He straightens his glasses as no one moves. “Nothing. Well, good luck.” The crowd disperses.

     Across the quad, Klaus and Matt walk out of the science building. Matt rambling on, “-but my dad left us when I was young. My mom is a drunk and everybody thinks it’s because my dad left. But my dad left because my mom is a drunk.”

     Klaus speaks up, “Okay. About my question?”

     “Oh, right,” Matt glances at his watch. “It’s 11:30. And I’m Matt,” he holds out his hand.

     Klaus shakes it, “I’m Klaus. Nice to know you, then meet you, in that order.”

     In front of the science building is a fountain full of leaves. Klaus spots a brunette sitting on the edge with an open textbook on her lap. “Matt, what do you know about that girl over there?”

     He takes a deep breath, “Well, I only talked to her once, but her name is Elena. She has a little brother. Her parents died a few years ago. And she is really nervous about the Spanish test tomorrow.”

     “Holy crap,” Klaus gasps, “You’re not completely useless.”

     “That’s the nicest thing anybody’s ever said to me.”

     “I don’t doubt it,” Klaus began to head to the offices.

     After a brief search he finds the one he was looking for. He opens the door, “You don’t deserve an office this big.”

     Professor Duncan looks up and smiles, “Mr. Mikaelson. What are you doing here?”

     Klaus sits across from him in front of the desk, “I’m a student now.”

     “That’s unfortunate,” the professor sips his coffee. “I thought you had a Bachelor’s from Columbia.”

     Klaus chuckles, “Now I need one from America. Which is where you come in. I need you to get me all the answers to tomorrow’s test.”

     Professor Duncan ruffles his hair, “How am I supposed to do that?”

     Klaus stands and opens the door, turning on his heel, he calls over his shoulder, “That’s not my problem.”

     The lunch lady slops some meat substance on his plate. Klaus turns up his face and whispers, “This is what passes as food in this dump?” He turns his head and spots Elena at a table by herself. Hey decides to walk over, “Hey.”

     Without looking up, she mumbles, “Go away, I’m studying.”

     “I was just going to say that I could help you with that.”

     Elena looks up, “Wait a second. The guy drawing elaborate landscapes all period speaks Spanish?”

     Klaus smiles at the knowledge that she was watching him. “I’m Klaus. I’m actually a board certified Spanish tutor. I’m just taking the class as an easy credit.”

     Elena challenges, “Say that I Spanish.”

     “Me llamo Klaus. Yo soy perro en espanol. Cerveza es la verdad para escula.”

     She holds up her hands in defeat, “Okay. You’re right. I could use your help.”

     “My study group meets at 3 in the library.” Elena grabs her things and gets up. “Will you be there?” She smirks, shrugs and walks away.

     After classes, Klaus walks into study room F and sits at the table. He glances at the clock that reads 3:15.

     “Hola,” Elena says with a slight wave of her hand.

     Klaus rushes to stand up, “Bienvenido.” He pulls out the chair around the corner from him, “Take a seat.” She complies and pulls out her notebook.

     “Let’s get started.”

     “Whoa. What’s the rush? Tell me about yourself.”

     Elena nervously giggles, which makes Klaus smile, “We have a test tomorrow and you want to make small talk.” He remains quiet, staring at her. Elena fidgets with her hair, “Okay, fine. I’m here because I flunked all of my classes senior year to impress my high school crush. I like to think of myself as a pretty honest person. Above all, I like people who are honest with me.”

     Klaus leans back in his chair and strokes his cheeks considering how to phrase his next sentence, “I will say or do anything to get what I want. And I want you to like me.”

     “For now, I like you just fine.”

     Shocked, Klaus exclaims, “You’re easy.”

     Elena playfully pouts and throws a pencil at his chest.

     “Hey, Klaus. Elena.”

     He turns around, “Matt! What are you doing here?”

     “Elena invited me. Is that cool?”

     Klaus turns back around, “I can’t think if a single reason why not.”

     Matt sits next to Elena, “This is like breakfast club, you know, because we are in a library.”

     At that moment, Klaus’s phone vibrates with a text that reads: con-4-s-8-tion on the field. “I’ll be right back. Study the verbs. In Spanish.” He saunters down to the football field where Professor Duncan is waiting at the edge.

     “What if I said I could get you the answers to tomorrow’s test?”

     Klaus shakes his head, “Well, I would say do that, and could have said so in a text.”

     “But what will you learn?”

     Klaus runs his hands through his hair, huffing in frustration, “If I wanted to learn, I wouldn’t be at Greendale.” The Professor remains silent and he continues, “Duncan, I was one of the best art dealers in the country. I learned at an early age that if I talk long enough I can sell anything to do anybody. Of all the things I could learn here, Spanish isn’t one of them. I know my downstairs neighbors hate me. I don’t need to know why.”

     “Okay. I’ll get the answers.”

     Klaus smirks, “Good,” and walks off. He strolls back into the study room and stops dead in his tracks. Shock washes across his face because four more people are waiting on him at the table.

     Sitting around the corner from Matt is Tyler, next to him is Damon, around the corner from him is Bonnie and Caroline.

     Matt perks up, “Klaus I invited more people from our Spanish class.”

     Klaus rolls his eyes, “Clearly.”

     “What kind of board certifies a tutor?” Caroline inquires.

     Tyler threw some papers on the table, “I don’t care. That means Seacrest does my homework, right?”

     Bonnie raises her hand, “How long will this take? I need to get home to my gram.”

     Damon turns to Bonnie, “I could sit here all day with this view.” She turns up her face.

     Elena points to each person as she says their name, “This is Tyler, Damon. Bonnie, and Caroline.” Each person nods, “Okay, let’s get started.”

     Caroline interrupts, “I would like to know why I found out about this study group on accident.”

     Elena tries to get everybody back on track, “Accident? Let’s learn how to say that in Spanish.”

     “No!” Klaus finally sits, “Let’s address this issue. Why didn’t we invite Caroline to this study group?”

     “I think it’s because everyone pities me and nobody respects who I am.”

     Bonnie responds to Caroline, “Well, you should decide if you want pity or respect. Children get pity and adults get respect, but they also get their head smashed through jukeboxes.”

     Tyler speaks up, “So nobody’s doing my homework?”

     “Tyler this isn’t Riverside High and you aren’t prom king anymore,” Caroline pushes a tendril of hair behind her ear.

     “How’d you know I went to Riverside?”

     She gasps, “Are you serious? We went to the same high school for four years. I sat behind you in three classes.”

     “Oh man, yeah. You’re the girl that took a bunch of pills and went crazy. You’re ‘Cracked out Caroline,’” Tyler laughs. She opens her mouth to defend herself.

     Damon interrupts, “I’m more interested in this beautiful creature to my right.” Bonnie turns up her face.

     “Are you aware that Bonnie finds your sexual advances as harassment?” Klaus brings to attention.

     “I’m just letting her know that I can’t wait until we inevitably have sex.”

     Tyler chuckles, “Dude, saying stuff like that is the harassment.”

     They all began talking over each other, yelling about their problems. Elena leans over to Klaus, “Fix this.”

     “I want to see how this plays out.” Klaus’s phone rings which silences everyone. The caller id reads ‘Duncan.’ “I’ll be right back. Continue.” He pushes back from the table and answers his phone in the hallway, “Where are my answers, Duncan?”

     “I want your car.”

     “My car? For tomorrow’s test answers?”

     Duncan sighs, “But it won’t just be tomorrow. It’ll be every time you have a test in every class. I want to be paid in advance. I want your car.”

     “And what do you expect me to drive?”

     “You can take my car.”

     Klaus laughs, “Hobos won’t even squat in your car. What am I supposed to do with that piece of crap?”

     “Let it remind you of a lesson.”

     “Duncan, the next time you try to teach me something I will rip whatever allows you to talk out of your throat,” he hung up the phone and let out a breath of frustration.

     Elena storms out of the room, “Klaus. Get in there and fix what you did.”

     “Hmm. Add a please to that and let me take you out tonight.”

     She snorts, “You have got to be kidding me.” They stand in the hall in silence staring at each other. “Fine. Klaus, will you fix this mess? Please.”

     He clasps his hands together, “Gladly, since you asked so nicely.” Klaus holds the door open for Elena and he enters behind her. The study group was still yelling each other. He grabs his textbook and slams it on the table, “Alright.” Everyone grew quiet and he continues, “What is the only difference between humans and other animals?”

     Elena jumps up, “What?”

     “Sit down love, I got this,” Klaus whispers to her.

     Tyler answers, “Feet.”

     Caroline scrunches her face and mouths, “What?”

     Klaus continues, “We are the only species that acknowledge Shark Week. Sharks don’t even care about Shark Week. For the same reason I can pick up this pencil, tell you his name is Carl and do this.” He breaks the pencil. Everyone let out some version of sadness. Klaus continues, “And a part of you dies. Because we can connect to anything. We can sympathize with a pencil. We can forgive a shark. And we can continue to support Ben Affleck. We as people find the good in just about anything expect for ourselves. Everyone in here is better than they think they are. Look at the person sitting next to you and extend to them the same kindness you give to pencils, sharks, and Ben Affleck. Say to that person, ‘I forgive you.’”

     Everyone turns to the person sitting next to them and says it, except Damon. Klaus brings it to everyone’s attention, “Damon, I’d like you to say ‘I forgive you.’”

     Caroline asks, “He didn’t say it?”

     He mumbles, “I forgive you.”

     Klaus continues, “Do you feel that? You just became more than a study group. You just became a community.”

     Bonnie and Caroline coos, “That’s sweet.”

     He sits down and leans over to Elena, “So when do you want to get out of here?”

     She snickers, “Are you kidding? I’m not going out with you. I just said that so we could study. Thanks for calming everybody down.” She opened the textbook and pulled out her binder. Elena thinks out loud, “What page do you guys want to start on?”

     The room fills with chatter about Spanish greetings or something and Klaus leans back in his chair and tilts his head up. He whispers to his self, “Welcome to Greendale.”


	2. Intro to Spanish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group is split into pairs for their first Spanish project. Does Klaus get Elena like he so desperately wants?

     “Again everybody,” Professor Chang rang out to the class.

     “¿Comò estàs?” the class repeated.

     “Good job. Now look under your desk,” commotion filled the room as the students pulled red envelopes out. “Inside your envelope is a picture or a word in Spanish. Find the person with the matching word to your picture or vice versa.” Chang walked to Elena’s desk and picked up her card, “For example, Ms. Gilbert has a picture of a dog. Whoever has the word perro is her partner.”

     Klaus opened his envelope and pounded his fists on the desk when he say a picture of a damn cat. He looked over to Damon on his left who held up his proof that he’s Elena’s partner. “Switch with me,” Klaus demanded.

     “Knowing that this is something you really want makes me really not want to give it to you,” Damon smirked.

     “I’ll give you $100 for that card right now. Damon don’t play with me.”

     “Why? It’s so fun,” he gathered his books and went over to Elena’s desk.

     Klaus slammed his head on the desk and groaned. Everyone else moved to sit next to their partner. “Unfortunately, we’re stuck together,” Caroline slouched in the desk vacated by Damon.

     He turned to see his partner, and groaned again, “Cracked Out Caroline? Really?”

     She smacked his arm, “Damn it, Klaus. I told you last week not to call me that.”

     Klaus sat up and turned his body towards her, “Okay. Little Blonde Battery.”

     “You seriously think that’s better?”

     He folded his arms across his chest, “It’s your choice.”

     Caroline mumbled under her breath almost inaudible, “Battery.”

     “That’s what I thought, blondie.”

     Chang interrupted everyone’s side conversations, “Hasta luego. Now everybody get out of my room.”

     Klaus jumped out of his seat to catch up with Elena in the hallway, “So, Damon’s your partner, huh? How much do you hate that?”

     She blushed and played with a strand of her hair, “I actually don’t mind.”

     He rolled his eyes and caught a glimpse of Damon down the hall, which resulted in an even bigger sign of disapproval. Klaus returned his attention back to Elena, “So how long do you think this project will take?”

     “I don’t know,” Elena answered. “Damon said it might take all night.”

     “I bet he did,” he chuckled.

     “Klaus,” Caroline called behind him.

     Elena leaned over to see his partner leaning against the wall, “Well, it looks like you need to go.” She strolled to the end of the hall to meet Damon, waved back at Klaus and disappeared around the corner.

     Klaus turned around to face Caroline, “You, love, are the only blonde that has screwed me in a bad way.”

     “Good. Be in the study room in ten minutes.” She walked away and called behind her, “And don’t call me love.”

 

     “Okay Matt,” Tyler began, “I think we can finish this project in two minutes. I want to go hustle some poor schmucks in pool.”

     Matt rubbed his hands together, “That sounds fun.”

     “Oh, that-, I wasn’t inviting you.” He looked at Matt and his face became so defeated, “But, you are more than welcome to come.”

     Matt’s smile returned full force, “Okay. Umm. ¿Dondé está los libros?”

     “Los libros es en la biblioteca.”

     “Me gustan los perros.”

     Tyler laughed, “Yo también.”

     They closed their books, Matt stood up, “Good enough?”

     Tyler jumped up with excitement, “Good enough.”

     Chang came back into the classroom, “Seriously, get out.” They gathered their belongings and joked their way to Tyler’s car. Once the coast was clear Chang pulled out his keytar.

 

     Bonnie ran into Elena and Damon in the library, “Hey are you guys going to the protest for injustice in Guatemala?”

     “Yeah, of course. Where is it?” Elena felt guilty for forgetting about it despite the hundreds of flyers plastered all over campus.

     “It’s in the quad.”

     “Elena, we’re not done with our project yet,” Damon pronounced trying to elongate their time together.

     Bonnie tried her best to suppress a laugh, “You guys are still working on that? It’s a simple conversation with four vocab words. Elena, hurry up and meet me in the quad.”

     Elena began packing up her bag, “She’s right. This takes two minutes.”

     “Not if we want to pass,” Damon lied.

     “Hola. Me llamo Elena.” She held out her hand for Damon to say something.

     Finally he gave up, “Me llamo Damon. Me gustá el libro.”

     “Yo también. Adios. See done,” Elena headed to the quad to meet up with Bonnie while Damon was left slouching on the table.

 

     “Klaus, you’re late,” Caroline shrieked as he closed the door to the study room.

     “Yeah, whatever. Let’s hurry up. Elena’s at some protest and I need to get out there and show her that I can pretend to be into whatever stupid thing she’s into,” Klaus hurriedly sat down.

     “Oh my God,” she looked disgusted. “Do you hear yourself when you talk?”

     “Yes, love. However, I don’t extend that same courtesy to you.”

     Caroline sighed, “Obviously. And don’t call me love.”

     “Come on, LBB. Let’s move this along.”

     “LBB?”

     “Little Blonde Battery, love.”

     “Ugh. Klaus you repulse me.”

     “Let’s do this project Blondie. I got a protest to pretend to care about.”

 

     “¿Comó estás?” Chang asked the class not caring about the answer. “It’s time for everybody to present their short conversations. Who wants to go first?”

     Caroline’s hand was half way up and Klaus smacked it down. Then Tyler and Matt walked to the front of the classroom. After their conversation Chang awarded them with a B-. Each pair went to the front and presented; nobody receiving higher than an A-. Last, but not least, it was Caroline and Klaus’s turn. They were gifted with an A+ and Caroline skipped back to her seat accepting nothing less.

     Klaus took his seat next to her, “Holy crap. I have never gotten an A+ on anything in school.”

     Caroline whispered back, “Like your total lack of personality, that doesn’t surprise me.”

     “That was mean, love,” Klaus smiled. “I liked it.”

     “That just means I spent too much time with you,” Caroline shivered at the thought.  

     He leaned over and whispered in her ear as everyone else left, “Want to spend some more?”

     She stood with her books in her hand and leaned down until she was inches from Klaus’s face. Misreading the situation, he leaned in until their lips almost touched. “No,” Caroline laughed. She pushed him back and briskly walked out the door. Klaus touched his lips where theirs almost touched. Caroline stuck her head back in the room, “And don’t call me love.”

 

     “It’s the beautiful Bonnie Bennett.”

     She looked up from the book she was reading at the table in the study room, “What do you want Damon?”

     “We can’t just talk?” He sat in the seat around the corner from her.

     “Oh,” Bonnie was pleasantly surprised, “sure, we can talk.”

     They sat in silence for a minute just staring at each other. Finally, Bonnie spoke up, “Damon, I thought you wanted to talk.”

     “I do, but it turns out that everything I want to say to you can be perceived as inappropriate.”

     “Eww. Let’s just not talk until everybody else gets here.”

     Damon leaned back in his chair, “Good idea.”

     One by one the rest of the group trickled in. “Good job everybody on the Spanish projects,” Elena congratulated.

     “You are forever the optimist, Elena. Overall, the projects were okay. Not good,” Caroline corrected.

     “Caroline, okay is passable.” Klaus stated, “I think I can speak for everybody in here. When it comes to Spanish, we just want to pass. And okay is passable.” The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

     “Unbelievable,” she threw her hands in the air in defeat.

     “Anyway,” Tyler wanted to change the subject, “today is Friday. What’s everybody doing for the weekend? I’m going to a dog show. I want to find out if wiener dogs start out that way or if they are born normal and then get wiener.”

     “I was just going to build a pillow fort, but your thing sounds better,” Matt considered. “Count me in,” they high fived while the group did a collective eye roll.

     “I’m going to feed homeless people with my grams,” Bonnie smiled. Everybody tried their best to stifle their laughs. “What?”

     “I’m going to a bar opening,” Damon spoke before anybody could comment on Bonnie’s extracurricular activities, “rumored to have the best scotch this side of the Mississippi.”

     “Well,” Caroline decided to speak up, “I am going to wallow in my bed about the horrible life decisions that lead me here to this study group. Then-”

     “Yeah, nobody cares,” Klaus interrupted. “What about you, Elena?”

     She smiled back at him, “Tonight I’m going to help out with a food drive for orphaned children in Africa.”

     Klaus feigned excitement and surprise, “What a coincidence. That’s exactly what I was going to do.” Bonnie and Caroline loudly grunted at his feeble attempt.

     “I guess I’ll see you there,” Elena became bubbly.

     “Definitely.”

     Elena, Matt and Tyler grabbed their bags and almost ran out the door with excitement for their weekend plans. Bonnie and Damon were a little slower. He held the door for her and she smiled back at him for just a second. Klaus and Elena were the only two left.

     He turned to her because he could feel her eyes bearing into the side of his face. Caroline voiced her thoughts, “You are kind of disgusting. You know you don’t care about orphaned children in Africa. You don’t care about the kids with parents in America.”

     “You are correct. If I didn’t know any better, love, I would think you were jealous.”

     Caroline burst with laughter, “Then it’s a good thing you don’t know any better. And don’t call me love.”

     Klaus gave a sly smile, “Would you prefer LBB?”

     “From you? Yes.”

     “Do you want to have this argument over dinner?”

     She scoffed, “You’re busy. Remember? Pretending to be into the stupid stuff Elena’s into.”

     “You are jealous, love,” Klaus smiled with a sense of self-worth.

     “Oh please. If anything I feel sorry for Elena. I wouldn’t want somebody that has to pretend around me.”

     “I don’t pretend when I’m around you.”

     “Oh, please, Klaus,” Caroline grabbed her bag and lingered by the door. She turned around, “Don’t flirt with Elena in front of everybody, then turn around and flirt with me when you know we’re alone. I’m nobody’s constellation prize.” She stormed out the door.

     Klaus gathered his stuff, “No, you’re not.” He ran out after her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you like it. More to come.


	3. Abnormal Psychology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus goes after Caroline. Is it as easy as Klaus thinks it is?

     Klaus caught up to Caroline by her car, “Wait. I think we should talk about this.”

     Caroline opened the passenger side door and threw her bag in, “One of these days thinking will get you in trouble.”

     “So let’s just do.”

     She walked the other side of her car, “Go away, Klaus.”

     He put his hands in his pockets, “Aren’t you just going home to wallow in bed?”

     “Go away, Klaus,” Caroline got in and started her Prius. She backed out the parking lot. When they were out of eyesight of each other, they both smiled like love sick teenagers.

 

     “Monday blows,” Troy stated as he sat at the table in the study room after classes. Everybody stared at him because he was late, “Anyway, how was everyone’s weekend? Matt and I went to that dog show. The wiener dogs are born wiener.” Matt nodded in agreement.

     Klaus let out a huge sigh of relief. “Thanks for telling us, mate. We were on the edge of our seats,” his voice dripping with sarcasm. Tyler and Matt looked a little setback.

     “My gram and I made sandwiches and cookies, then handed them out to homeless people,” Bonnie tried to take the pressure off of Tyler and Matt.

     “I went to that opening,” Damon over dramatized his pain, “the scotch was as common as a whore in a politician’s car in D.C.” The group looked at each other and mouthed the word, ‘wow.’ Bonnie added an eye roll; if he could exaggerate his disappointment, she could exaggerate her reaction.

     “I did some world class wallowing this weekend,” Caroline said.

     “Klaus,” Elena began talking as if nobody heard anything Caroline said, “I didn’t see you at the food drive.”

     He turned all his attention on her, “Yeah, sorry, love. I lost track of time volunteering at a soup kitchen.”

     “Have you no shame,” Caroline laughed quietly. Klaus and Elena watched her with concern. “We don’t have any Spanish homework today, so I’m leaving,” she grabbed her things and got out as quickly as she could.

     Matt and Tyler exchanged a look and Matt spoke up, “We’ll see you guys tomorrow.” They caught up to Caroline in the parking lot, “Hey, wait.”

     She turned around not expecting them to follow her, “What?”

     “We know how to make you feel better,” Matt looped his arm through hers.

     “Why?”

     “Because we agree with you, Klaus is a jerk and Elena is the only one sipping the Kool-Aid,” Tyler looped his arm through her other one. “Luckily we have the two words to make you feel better.”

     She giggled, “Okay.”

     Tyler and Matt looked at each other and at the same time yelled, “Street Fair!”

     Elena, Klaus, Bonnie, and Damon were left sitting in the study room in an awkward silence until Elena’s phone rang. She showed it to Klaus, “Want to volunteer right now?”

     “Try to stop me,” he feigned enthusiasm and followed her outside.

     After the door to the study room closed, Damon asked Bonnie, “Do you think they knew?”

     “That we went out this weekend? Of course not,” she blushed.

     “By the way, there is nothing common about you. Though I’d assume you’re much better than a prostitute.”

     “You’re disgusting,” Bonnie thought aloud.

     “No, I’m consistent. There’s a difference.”

 

     Caroline walked into her apartment, hands full of stuffed animals that the guys won for her. Her cellphone’s muffled ring filled the tiny abode and she ran to her bedroom to dump all the furry animals on her bed. She fished the phone out her pocket and answered it almost out of breath, “Hello?”

     “Hello, love.”

     “Klaus? How’d you get my number? And don’t call me love.”

     He laughed; it sounded so perfect it made Caroline smile. “I needed to talk to you.”

     “Why don’t you call Elena, then?”

     “You see, if I didn't know any better, I’d say you were jealous,” Klaus became cheerful at the thought.

     Caroline laughed with self-restraint, “I’m hanging up.”

     “No. Wait,” he paused, “My little brother died this weekend.”

     She fell back on the bed, smacking her head for being mean. “I’m so sorry. What was his name?”

     “Kol,” he whispered.

     “What happened?”

     Klaus laid back on his bed, “It’s just one of those things that you can’t stop, you know?”

     “Yeah. So, why’d you call me?”

     “Because, love, I needed a little blonde battery to tell me everything was okay.”

     Caroline decided to let this one go and oddly smiled with the comfort that Klaus trusted her, “Everything will be better.” She glanced at the alarm clock on her dresser next to the bed, “It’s getting late. We should go to sleep.”

     “Don’t hang up,” he pleaded.

     “I’m not going anywhere, Klaus.” He soon drifted off to sleep just listening to her ramble on about Spanish, dogs, and anything not related to Kol. “Goodnight, Klaus,” Caroline whispered and was lulled to sleep listening to him breathe.

 

     The next morning, Klaus and Caroline ran into each other in the hallway in-between classes. He beamed when he say her, “Hey, love. Thanks for last night.”

     “Yeah, anytime.” He took her in his arms and hugged her like his life depended on it. He pulled back and tried to kiss her. Caroline stepped back, “I’m here for you Klaus,” the bell rung, “but, I can’t be here for you like that.” She turned to run to class and yelled over her shoulder, “See you in Spanish.” Klaus was left standing in the deserted hallway confused.

 

     “What happened in the hall today?” Klaus leaned over and whispered to Caroline.

     Senor Chang was going over the vocab from chapter two and talking about their next project, “You’ll partner up with the person sitting next to you.”

     Filled with excitement, Klaus hurriedly inched his desk towards Caroline’s, “Looks like we’re working together again.”

     “You just want to work with me because I’m incredibly smart,” Caroline boasted.

     He flirted, “That’s not the only reason, love.”

     Tyler turned around while Matt was yapping on about some TV show. He spotted Caroline and grinned until she looked up at him. They held each other’s eyes for a brief second, Tyler winked at her and she giggled like a little school girl.

     Klaus saw the whole exchange, “I do not like that.”

     Throwing it back in his face, Caroline joked, “If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were jealous, love.”

     Ignoring her clowning, Klaus inquired, “Are you two dating?”

     “Yes. No. Well, not yet. Our first date is tonight,” she rambled.

     “Good. Cancel,” Klaus beamed. Caroline looked confused by his request. She opened her mouth to say something then shut it three times. Filling the silence, Klaus made his plea, “I’m serious. Tell Tyler that you’re busy or something and go out with me.”

     She thought for a second, “I told you before, Klaus. I’m not a constellation prize. You want me, earn me. Do that, and I won’t start dating Tyler.”

     Chang huffed loudly with frustration, “Class is over. Get out.”

     Caroline stood up, “Let’s go to study group.”

     The group poured into the room in the library and shut the doors. “The Spanish homework is relatively easy tonight. So it should take us five minutes,” Bonnie assumed.

     Damon leaned over to her and whispered low enough for only her to hear, “Are we going out tonight?” Bonnie nodded, he pumped his fist in the air and retracted it before anyone was the wiser. She rolled her eyes at his excitement.

     Everyone kind of broke off into their own little side conversations while completing the homework. Bonnie and Damon whispered. Tyler and Elena were listening intently to Matt’s story. Klaus moved into the empty chair between him and Caroline.

     “Okay, let’s talk about this,” Klaus began. “How do I ‘earn you’?”

     Not taking her eyes off her paper, Caroline explained, “If I have to tell you how to earn me, then you wouldn’t really be earning me.”

     “Help me,” he begged.

     “Have you ever perused somebody? I mean I’m not asking for the world here, Klaus. Do women just throw themselves at you?” He smirked and looked like he intended to say something dirty. Caroline stopped him before he spoke, “Don’t answer that.”

     “I need help,” Klaus began. Caroline was done with her homework and packed up her book bag. He continued, “I’m mean and selfish. I will tell people what they want to hear so they give me what I want. You are the only person that calls me out. I don’t care about other people or their feelings. But, for some reason, I care about you.”

     Caroline held Klaus’s hand under the table and he squeezed it, “That was incredibly sweet.”

     Bonnie interrupted everyone’s conversations, “Is everybody done?” The group nodded and got their stuff together to leave.

     Caroline continued talking to Klaus, “But, it’s just not enough.”


	4. Economics 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school hosts a bachelor auction and nobody leaves with who they thought.

     “So, this weekend write a two page paper in Español about any animal. There is no class tomorrow. Don’t show up because I know I won’t. Have a great Thursday. You can leave now,” Chang raced out of the classroom before anybody else could stand up.

     The study group didn't meet on Wednesday because there was no homework. They dragged their feet getting to the library. It was like somebody pressed the slow motion button. Matt closed the door when everybody was inside. With a painstaking slowness, the group pulled out the chairs and sat down.

     Caroline was the first to speak, which is no surprise. “Well,” she started, “I know that this is the hardest assignment Chang has ever given us, but I think with the minimal effort you guys are accustomed to, we can do passable.”

     “You’re finally speaking our language,” Klaus huffed. “Let’s do doable and passable.”

     "Let’s pick an animal,” Elena spoke up.

     Tyler shouted, “Dog?” He pointed to each person around the table, “Dog? Dog? Dog?” Everyone nodded in agreement with the choice in animal. The librarian knocked on the window to shush the group.

     Caroline tried to lower her voice out of respect for the rules of the library, “Okay. I think we should write the paper in English. We keep the sentences very simple. And when we’re done, we divide the paper up. Since there are seven of us we only have to translate like a paragraph.”

     Klaus perked up exponentially, “Brilliant, love.”

     Bonnie opened her mouth to touch on the subject of Klaus calling Caroline love, but Caroline stopped her before it was too late, “Let’s stay on topic.”

     Five minutes later, they were calling out the last of the sentences of the paper. Once they were done, Matt threw his head back and yawned, “Now, we need to divide up the paper.”

     “Maybe we should take a short break so everybody can refresh,” Caroline threw out.

     Collectively and with great relief, everyone said, “Yes.”

     Before anybody could move, the Dean busted in with great flamboyance, “Dean, Dong. I’m just here to tell you guys about the Bachelor Auction tomorrow. The school is raising money to clean out the cafeteria.”

     “Of course,” Klaus stated.

     “Anyway, gang. We need a couple more bachelor’s to fill out the roster. We have Garrett, Star-Burns, Neil, Magnitude, and Leonard. Can I add you four to the list?” The Dean pointed to Klaus, Damon, Matt, and Tyler.

     “Magnitude is a real get. We’re in,” Tyler noted and high fived with Matt.

     “Good,” the Dean breathed with relief. “Damon? Klaus?” Neither of them confirmed or denied their willingness to participate. Knowing he needed them to really raise enough money, the Dean knew how to convince them, “I’ll give you a math credit.”

     Both Damon and Klaus agreed with their too cool for school attitude, “Okay, sure.” The Dean threw his hands up in mini-celebration and went back to his office to add their names to the roster.

     “Are we still taking a break?” Matt asked in light of the interruption.

     “Yeah. Just come back in a couple of minutes,” Caroline answered. She was barely through her sentence before everyone was out the door. Klaus and Caroline were the only two left sitting at the table. “You aren’t leaving?” she inquired.

     “No, I’m good here,” Klaus responded. “Are you going to bid on me at the auction tomorrow?”

     “I’m sure you’ll have enough girls bidding on you. You don’t need me to boost your ego.”

     Klaus chuckled, “I don’t want the other girls.”

     Caroline smiled and began to blush, “I didn’t go out with Tyler.”

     “Oh?” Klaus tried his best to hide his excitement.

     “I told him I was busy or something,” Caroline began curling her hair around her finger.

     “Do I make you nervous, love?” She scrunched her face. “I noticed that whenever you get nervous you play with your hair.”

     Starting with Bonnie, the group began trickling in one by one. Klaus and Caroline straightened out their faces prepared to get back to work. Caroline divided up the two pages between the seven of them and they got right back to work. A meaningless conversation would begin and saunter off every couple of minutes to keep them somewhat invested. Before they knew it, the paper was done.

     Before they left, Elena smiled to Bonnie and Caroline, “Since our friends are in the auction tomorrow, I think we should go and bid on them.”

     “Of course,” the girls agreed.

     Matt and Tyler beamed, “Nice.”

     Tyler explained to the girls, “Whoever bids on me, I want to go for a lot.”

 

     The bachelors were backstage and the auction was about to begin. All the girls and a few guys found their seats. The Dean stepped up to the mic and was greeted with feedback. The tech guy at the sound booth fixed that as quickly as he could.

     “Hey Greendale Community College and welcome to the Bachelor Auction,” the cafeteria filled with a medial amount of applause. “Okay, let’s just jump right in. Our first bachelor is Garrett. Garrett is a member of the AV club. He’s taken an acting course and he is allergic to pollen. Let’s start the bidding at ten dollars.”

     The bidding began and the price slowly started to creep higher than anybody thought he would go for. Finally, the bidding stopped at $48.

     “Wow!” The Dean exclaimed. “Up next is Star-Burns. Alex is a fry cook in this very cafeteria. He has a son and is rumored to love cats. Let’s start the bidding at ten dollars.”

     Alex’s bidding wasn’t as energetic as Garrett’s, but he was brought for $45.

     “The next bachelor is Neil. Neil is an avid Dungeons and Dragons player. He also runs the Greendale radio station. Let’s start the bidding at ten dollars.”

     Vicky stood up with her money in the air, “Fifty dollars. Nobody else bid.” Everyone remained silent out of fear.

     The Dean continued, “The next bachelor is Magnitude. Magnitude needs no introduction. He is British and a one-man party. Let’s start the bidding at ten dollars.”

     Due to Magnitude’s popularity around the school, almost every girl was screaming with admiration and bidding. He was finally sold for $96.

     “That was quite exciting,” the Dean raved. “Up next is Leonard. Leonard was alive during many wars and is an enthusiastic fan of safe sex. Let’s start the bidding at ten dollars.”

     Leonard received a few bids which resulted in him going for $36.

     Bonnie, Caroline and Elena knew the boys from their study group were next. They sat up straighter in their seats and pulled out their wallets to check how much cash they had. Going into the auction, Bonnie decided she was going to bid on Damon. Klaus finally talked Caroline into bidding on him.

     “Our next bachelor is Damon,” the girls lead everyone else into a roar of applause. “Damon supports women and the freedoms of their bodies,” the Dean read off the cards the bachelors filled out and raised his eyebrows at the total lack of surprise at Damon’s arrogance. “Let’s start the bidding at ten dollars.”

     Bonnie yelled out, “Fifteen.”

     A girl Bonnie recognized from her history class countered, “Sixty.”

     Bonnie counted the money in her hand and shouted, “Ninety-five.” Damon spotted her and winked causing her to grin like an idiot from a RomCom.

      A few other girls barked some bids and Elena yelled, “$115.” All the girls gaped and stared at her.

      “And Damon goes to Elena,” the Dean clapped, thrilled the auction was raising more money than he originally thought. “The next bachelor is Matt. Matt loves to read and play pool. Let’s start the bidding at ten dollars.”

     A few of the girls cooed and whispered how adorable they thought he was. The bidding commenced, Bonnie stopped everyone’s bid by offering what she offered for Damon, “Ninety-five dollars.”

     The Dean continued to the next bachelor, “Tyler loves dogs and plays football. Let’s start the bidding at ten dollars.”

     One girl bid twelve dollars on him. Tyler’s face looked sad and disappointed that nobody wanted him. Caroline had a minor internal conflict because she wanted to bid on Klaus, but Tyler was so hurt. Caroline bid, “$200.” Tyler threw his hands in the air and performed a victory dance.

     The Dean could hardly control his enthusiasm at the success of the auction, “Our last bachelor is Klaus. Klaus didn’t write anything on his card. So, let’s just start the bidding at ten dollars.”

     The girls went crazy and threw out numbers. But, he looked down because he was so sure Caroline would be bidding on him. Eventually he was sold for $252 to some random girl he had never seen.

     The Dean was grinning from ear-to-ear because of the money raised, “Thank you so much for coming out to the bachelor auction in support of cleaning out the cafeteria. Congratulations to you lucky few on your bachelors. Enjoy your dates tonight. Have a good weekend.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Do you like it? More coming soon.


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